82-YEAR-OLD SHIRLEY BARLAR KNOWS FIRSTHAND ABOUT THE DANGERS OF TRIPLE E. >> I JUST BECAME VERY ILL. NICHOLE: BARLAR, WHO NOW LIVES IN LEICESTER, WAS DIAGNOSED BACK IN 1962. AT AGE 25, JUST MONTHS FROM HER WEDDING DATE. >> I JUST COULDN’T GET BETTER, THE FEVER WOULDN’T GO AWAY NOR WOULD THE HEADACHES OR THE NAUSEA. NICHOLE: HER DOCTOR ENDED UP MAKING A HOUSE CALL. >> HE TOOK ONE LOOK AT ME IN THE BED AND HE SAID SHE NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL NICHOLE: SHE ENDED UP AT ST. VINCENT’S IN WORCESTER. >> THEY JUST TOLD MY PARENTS THAT THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ME. WE JUST HAD TO WAIT IT OUT, IT DIDN’T LOOK GOOD, IT DIDN’T LOOK GOOD. NICHOLE: THINGS WERE TOUCHING GO. >> I ALMOST DIED AND I WAS GIVEN UP FOR DEAD -- DEAD. NICHOLE: BUT AFTER ABOUT A MONTH, BARLAR STARTED IMPROVING, AND EVENTUALLY WENT HOME. >> CERTAIN THINGS I REMEMBER LIKE WHEN I LEFT THE HOSPITA AND THE NURSES AND NUNS EVEN HOW MANY YEARS LATER, 50 YEARS LATER. THEY LINED THE CORRIDOR AND JUST CLAPPED FOR ME BECAUSE I WAS ABLE TO WALK OUT. NICHOLE: AND 3 MONTHS LATER, BARLAR WAS ABLE TO GET MARRIED, SHE’D EVENTUALLY HAVE TWO SONS. AND LATER, GRANDCHILDREN, EVEN GREAT GRANDCHILDREN. BARLAR NOW WANTS TO SPREAD HER PERSONAL MESSAGE OF HOPE. >> I SURVIVED THIS THING. LET PEOPLE KNOW YOU CAN SURVIVE. NICHOLE: SHIRLEY SAYS SHE STILL GETS PAINFUL HEADACHES, BUT SAYS OTHERWISE, SHE HAS FULLY RECOVERED. TONIGHT IS NIGHT TO OF SPRAYING HERE IN SUDBURY. THE STATE HAS ANNOUNCED THAT WILL BE HIM ADDITIONAL MOSQUITO SPRAYING IN MIDDLESEX, WORCESTER AND NORFOLK COUNTIES.

In a year when seven Massachusetts residents have been diagnosed with Eastern equine encephalitis, Leicester resident Shirley Barlar is a living example of hope.Barlar, now 82 years old, survived her brush with the deadly EEE virus 57 years ago."I survived this thing," she said. "You know, (I want to) let people know you can survive."In 1962, Barlar was 25 years old, living in Milton and just months away from getting married when she became very ill."I just couldn't get better," Barlar said. "The fever wouldn't go away nor would the headaches and the nausea."Barlar's doctor made a house call and said she needed to go to the hospital after taking one look at her. She was taken to Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, where she was diagnosed with encephalitis."They just told my parents that they didn't know what to do with me," she said. "We just had to wait it out. It didn't look good."I almost died and I was given up for dead."Barlar spent about a month recovering in the hospital and was released from the hospital in June."When I left the hospital, the nurses and the nuns -- I get (emotional) even 50 years later -- they lined the corridor and just clapped for me, because I was able to walk out."Barlar got married three months later and then had two sons after a two-year waiting period, per doctor's orders. She now has five grandchildren and two great grandchildren."I never thought I'd make it," she said.Barlar said she still gets painful headaches, but has otherwise made a full recovery.

LEICESTER, Mass. —

In a year when seven Massachusetts residents have been diagnosed with Eastern equine encephalitis, Leicester resident Shirley Barlar is a living example of hope.

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Barlar, now 82 years old, survived her brush with the deadly EEE virus 57 years ago.

In 1962, Barlar was 25 years old, living in Milton and just months away from getting married when she became very ill.

"I just couldn't get better," Barlar said. "The fever wouldn't go away nor would the headaches and the nausea."

Barlar's doctor made a house call and said she needed to go to the hospital after taking one look at her. She was taken to Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, where she was diagnosed with encephalitis.

"They just told my parents that they didn't know what to do with me," she said. "We just had to wait it out. It didn't look good.

"I almost died and I was given up for dead."

Barlar spent about a month recovering in the hospital and was released from the hospital in June.

"When I left the hospital, the nurses and the nuns -- I get (emotional) even 50 years later -- they lined the corridor and just clapped for me, because I was able to walk out."

Barlar got married three months later and then had two sons after a two-year waiting period, per doctor's orders. She now has five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

"I never thought I'd make it," she said.

Barlar said she still gets painful headaches, but has otherwise made a full recovery.